On 14 May, the three Prime Ministers of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali launched a special economic zone in the SKBo triangle, composed of the regions of Sikasso (Mali), Bobo Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) and Korhogo (Côte d’Ivoire). It is the first special economic zone in West Africa that operates across borders. Read on

Six West African microfinance networks joined forces to create a new regional institute, the Financière de l’Afrique de l’Ouest. Based in Dakar, the new financing institute will start with 4.5 million clients and 800 points of sale. Read on

Launched on 27 April in Abuja, the EUR 8 million programme will finance field projects that support agro-ecological intensification on family farms in five West African countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and Togo. Read on

This is a must read for anybody who would like to understand the issues at stake in Mali’s next presidential election, which are set for 29 July 2018. Joseph Brunet-Jailly, an economist and Mali expert, analyses the state of play in Malian politics. The prospects are far from encouraging. Mali is in a catastrophic situation: the Algiers Peace Agreement has become void, the opposition is divided and the forthcoming presidential election will probably change nothing. Read on

On 22 March, the 25th World Water Day promoted nature-based solutions to address the world’s water challenges. “How can we reduce floods, droughts and water pollution? By using the solutions we already find in nature” was the official theme. The importance of water is self-evident in the Sahel and West Africa region, which faces a large number of water challenges. Read on

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan embarked on 26 February on a five-day Africa tour to visit four African countries - Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Senegal - in a bid to extend Turkey’s influence on the African continent. It was president Erdogan’s first visit to Mali and Mauritania and his second African tour. Read on

On 16 February 2014, the heads of state of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger met in Nouakchott to create the G5 Sahel, a regional body designed to co-ordinate strategies and policies on defence, security, governance, infrastructure and resilience in the Sahel. The G5 Sahel officially launched its joint force at an extraordinary summit on 2 July 2017. There is still a significant budget shortfall to make the force fully operational. Mobilising the necessary troops that will make up the joint force battalions is yet another challenge. Read on

The five presidents from G5 Sahel countries met on 6 February in Niamey, Niger at the 4th ordinary session of the Heads of State Conference. Discussions focused on ensuring sustainable funding for the recently launched G5 Sahel Joint Force. G5 leaders already approved its operational set-up, the creation of a dedicated trust fund, the creation of a regional police academy in Chad and a G5 Sahel Defence College in Mauritania. Read on

On 5 February, CILSS and the World Bank signed a new funding agreement worth USD 20 million for the Sahel Irrigation Initiative Regional Support Project (PARIIS). The project covers six Sahelian countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal) and aims to improve stakeholders’ capacity to develop and manage irrigation and increase irrigated areas in the Sahel by 2024. Read on

The most recent issue of Dynaniques paysannes magazine, published by SOS Faim Belgium, analyses the rice sector in West Africa from a producers’ perspective. Authors call for more coherence between agricultural and trade policies and between national and regional policies in order to develop the regional market. Read on